The Jesters waiting for the Williamsburg Christmas Parade to start
After the parade, we celebrated Dan with lunch, cake, and ice cream!
Sunday morning, Dan and I were up bright and early to run through Busch Gardens. It's my favorite race of the year!
We had an unseasonably warm December, but the over-the-top Christmas decorations in our neighborhood helped us get into the season.
Regent University hosts a European-style Christmas Village with family-friendly events and vendors selling handmade wares. We live around the corner from the campus, and loved spending one Saturday afternoon there.
We watched their live Nativity performance
Rode rides
Met elves
And the girls got their very first photo with Santa. I don't know that it'll be an annual tradition, but it was cute, free, and there wasn't much of a line.
The ladies at my office organize a delicious potluck brunch each year. This year's theme was "crazy Christmas hats."
We also had an office Christmas luncheon. Denise (left), and Cristi are the two ladies I work most closely with in Portsmouth. They're both amazing!
Hallie and I got to tag along on Emma's December class field trip to the Virginia Living Museum.
Emma the tortoise, carrying some of her classmates. Ha!
The museum has tons of hands-on exhibits, as well as a large dinosaur excavation play area outside. The kids had a blast!
While Emma's class watched a 3-D movie about the Christmas Star, Hallie and I fed some fish during their lunchtime (under the supervision of the museum staff worker).
And she got to play vet and help the poor, sick stuffed animals.
One of the biggest highlights during December was having my brother, Steve, his wife, Sheila, and their kids, Meera and Rowan in town for Christmas week!
Sweet cousins
We took the whole family to the Portsmouth Children's Museum one day
The kids in the giant chair
Sheila, Rowan, and Steve posed for a photo, too (Meera was too busy playing to stop for a picture). The Children's Museum is perfect for our kids' ages. There are dozens of themed, hands-on play rooms for them to explore, as well as a kid-friendly IMAX movie. We spent a solid 4 hours there!
Christmas Day came and we started the morning at my parents' house opening gifts.
Gifts and more gifts!!
We left and drove to Williamsburg to open gifts with Dan's family at lunchtime. Then my whole family joined the Jester family for dinner later on Christmas day. We're so very thankful that our families love each other.
The Jester clan, minus Dan's sister, Robin, and her family since they recently moved to Montana. We miss them tons!
The rest of Christmas week was spent enjoying our time with Steve's family.
We took the kids to the park one day, but we mostly stayed in and let them just play. We don't get to see each other as much as we'd like to!
Princesses Meera, Hallie, and Emma and Prince Rowan can't wait until they're together again!
Merry Christmas from the Jester Family! We are immensely thankful for the season's constant reminders of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, and the eternal life He offers to everyone who trust in him for salvation. We pray that God blesses you and your family in 2020!
